Preview: RSL at LA Galaxy

SANDY, Utah – Real Salt Lake will look to win its third-straight game across all competitions on Saturday, when it will take on Western Conference rival LA Galaxy at 8:30 p.m. MT at StubHub Center.

Saturday’s game will kick at 8:30 p.m. MT and will be broadcast live on ABC 4, ESPN700 AM and 102.3 La Gran D FM/1600 AM. ABC 4 will air its 30-minute Ford Postgame Show immediately following the match; ESPN 700 will begin its pregame coverage at 7:30 p.m. MT and will air an hour-long postgame show immediately following the final whistle.

Saturday’s contest will be the third and final regular season matchup between RSL and LA this year. The sides split the first two meetings, with LA scoring two early goals to beat RSL 2-0 at Rio Tinto Stadium on April 27 before the Claret-and-Cobalt bagged two late tallies to down the Galaxy 3-1 at Rio Tinto Stadium on June 8.

Real Salt Lake enters Saturday’s match in first-place in the Supporters’ Shield and Western Conference races. The Claret-and-Cobalt is two points ahead of Eastern Conference leaders Sporting Kansas City in the battle for the Supporters’ Shield and five points ahead of Vancouver Whitecaps FC and the Colorado Rapids in the Western Conference race. RSL is seven points ahead of LA, which sits in fifth-place in the West and has a game in hand on the Claret-and-Cobalt.

RSL won its last match, getting a goal from FW Alvaro Saborio to beat the Houston Dynamo 1-0 at Rio Tinto Stadium last Saturday. The win extended the Claret-and-Cobalt’s unbeaten run to three games across all competitions including the team’s Aug. 3 2-2 draw at Colorado and its 2-1 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semifinal win over the Portland Timbers on Aug. 7.

Saturday’s match will be RSL’s second and final regular season trip to the recently re-named StubHub Center. The Claret-and-Cobalt has dominated at the Carson, Calif. facility, winning its last five regular season games there, including a 4-1 drubbing of Chivas USA on May 19. RSL won both of its matches at LA last season, beating the Galaxy 3-1 in the regular season opener on March 10, 2012 and 2-1 on Oct. 6, 2012. Eleven of the Claret-and-Cobalt’s 30 all-time regular season road wins have come in Carson; 15 of those 30 away victories have come in the state of California.

Saturday’s game will pit the two hottest players in the league against each other in RSL FW Alvaro Saborio and LA FW Landon Donovan. The two Designated Players have absolutely torn up the league recently, with Saborio notching six goals and one assist in his last five MLS games and Donovan registering four goals and three helpers over the same span. Both players notched a hat trick during their strong runs of form.

LA – which announced on Thursday that it had made DF Omar Gonzalez its third Designated Player – drew its last match, getting a hat trick from Donovan in a 3-3 tie at FC Dallas last Sunday.

Saturday’s match will be the first of a three-game in eight-day stretch for RSL. The Claret-and-Cobalt will follow up Saturday’s contest with a trip to Portland to take on the Timbers next Wednesday, Aug. 21 before returning home to host the Columbus Crew next Saturday, Aug. 24.

Real Salt Lake is all-even in its all-time series against LA, posting a 10-10-6 record against the Galaxy in MLS regular season and playoff action. RSL has had a good deal of success when playing at the Galaxy, posting a 5-6-1 record at LA in regular season and playoff action.